Mark of Mastery Exam
by japanesesoul
Summary: My version of what will happen in KH 3D/ KH3.
1. Departure

Disclaimer: I do not/could never own the Kingdom Hearts series.

King Mickey sat writing yet another letter to Sora and Riku. Days earlier, Master Yen Sid had prompted him to somehow reach the two friends to tell them about the Mark of Mastery exam that was going to befall them as soon as they reached the Master. He finally laid his pen down and surveyed his work. The letter read as follows:

_Dear Sora and Riku,_

_ Yen Sid called me to his tower recently and conveyed some grave news. It seems as though Master Xehanort, Somebody of Xemnas and the reason Ansem, Seeker of Darkness, ever existed, my have come to being again. Yen Sid bade me tell you that you need to find some way to get to his tower and get ready for your Mark of Mastery exams. He will explain himself when you get there. _

It was not as long as he would've liked to make it, but he supposed that it sufficed. He put he letter in an envelope and inlaid his seal on it. He had only to wish that the letter would be sent to Destiny Islands, and then it would be gone. He sighed, closed his eyes, wished and the letter disappeared. He went to talk to his faithful Court Magician and Captain of the Guard, Donald Duck and Goofy.

"Gee fellahs, how do you think those three are holdin' up?" the King asked, clearly worried.

"Gawrsh, Your Majesty, I'm sure they're doin' just fine! Knowing them, they're clowning around since they haven't seen each other for so long," Goofy said.

"Aw, I wish we could see them again…. It feels like such a long time since we've seen either of them." Donald chimed in.

Meanwhile, on the big island, Sora was sitting in the secret place, thinking. He knew this wasn't his usual perch, but he had to do some thinking and looking. It had been such a long time since he'd been here. Most of the days since he had got back from his seemingly never-ending journey had been spent drinking in the beauty of the home he again hadn't seen for so long.

He spent the most time gazing fondly upon that fateful picture, the one with the crudely drawn faces of two youths handing each other a paopu fruit, which he had only seen once since his return. He knew he would have to leave once again, and so, he had spent most of the past days spending time here to make sure he would remember the image.

He was thinking of Kairi, the love of his life, which was another reason he was there, to contemplate his feelings. "_Maybe this time I won't see her again. Maybe Riku will fall prey to the darkness again….." _But he quickly dismissed the second thought from his head. He knew for a fact that a) Riku had no intention of falling into the darkness again and that b) he had learned a lot from his previous mistakes. The first thought he still grasped however. This was because he knew that he was always in constant danger of being killed off.

Suddenly, he heard something behind him. He gave a jump (funny, he thought, he should be used to that kind of thing by now.) He heard a soft voice behind him.

"Don't worry, it's only me." Kairi was standing beside him now, smiling. She gave a chuckle.

"Gee, Kairi…. Do you have to do that all of the time?' Sora joked.

Kairi laughed outright this time. "You're weird, you know that? Come on, lazy bones. Riku is waiting for us down at the paopu tree."

Sora tentatively eyed his friend. "Hey, Kairi. Do you think that we'll have to leave sooner than we think?"

Kairi looked thoughtful. "Well, I guess it kinda depends doesn't it?"

Sora nodded as they brushed past the foliage covering the Secret Place. "Do you think that, you know…..? Something….. Might happen?" he asked with a nervous twitch as he awaited the answer.

"Well, yeah sure. Death is just a part of life, but don't worry. You're special Sora… I'm sure that my charm will protect you. It's worked all these other times."

He nodded. Sora and Kairi both unconsciously looked lovingly and longingly at each other. Suddenly, a voice broke the silence:

"Hey, cut out the lovey-dovey stuff you two!"

Both looked over at Riku with guilty and embarrassed expressions on their faces. They sat down.

"While you two were goofing off, I found something. Something important."

Kairi smiled. "And what might that be?"

"It's a letter from the King," Riku said.

"Another one?" Sora asked, half disappointed, half excited

"Yep. It says that we have to go to Yen Sid's tower right away. It's for a certain reason. I'll tell you all about it when we get there, Sora."

"Kairi….." Sora said, as he looked at the sand.

"Don't worry. I can wait. I've done it long enough. And I _promise _I will find some way to get to you."

"Okay…." Sora said, reassured. He smiled.

They were already ready by the time night was just beginning to fall. The three friends said a quick goodbye, to save time, but each of them knew that they would miss each other (well, that Sora and Riku would miss Kairi, at least.)

When the other two had been gone for several hours, Kairi visited the Secret Place for one last look at the pictures that night. Alone, she too surveyed the picture of the two youths handing each other paopu fruit. She brushed her hand against the picture, gave it a loving gaze and said:

"Soon, Sora. We'll see each other soon I promise," and she felt a well of hot tears spring from her eyes.

A/N: There's more (much more) on the way. Please review this story and keep checking back for more. Sorry if it seems somewhat rushed. I hope you liked it


	2. Beginnings and Mysterious Happenings

A/N: I would like to apologize for not writing anything for a while. I just needed ideas to flow back.

They had left that night under cover of the door to light which was still open, as if the door had known they had to leave. It had then carried them like sparkles of bright light to Yen Sid's tower. When they materialized, Riku told Sora why they had come here.

"The letter said we needed to come here to take our….." Riku paused here, as if the words he were about to utter were foreign to him. "….. Mark of Mastery Exams….." he continued. "Mickey said that the real Master Xehanort might have come into being again."

"What? He's back?" Sora looked surprised. "There's just no way to finish him off, is there? I hope we'll be ready to fight him soon…"

Riku laughed. "Hello? Have you forgotten who we're training under? We'll be ready to face and finish him off before you know it."

"Yeah, you're probably right…." Sora said, but he looked a little worried to Riku.

Suddenly, the reason Sora looked so worried hit him like a ton of bricks. "Hey, don't worry. Kairi will meet up with us soon."

The rest of the way up to the Sorcerer's Loft was traversed in silence, but each had something on his mind.

Back on the Island, Kairi made her way to the schoolhouse for her last day of school. She couldn't stop thinking of how much pain she would have to go through with Sora and Riku being gone for yet another year and another summer. She was still having trouble coming up with a way to meet her two friends.

"Let's see, I could… no, no, I couldn't do that…. I don't have the right materials to make a Gummi Ship and I don't know how to make one anyway."

Suddenly, a cold feeling ran through Kairi's whole body. The next moment, she fell to the ground, unconscious. In a haze, she thought she heard a voice. Darkness closed around her, but she felt that this wasn't a dream. Objects came into focus, and she found she was in a dimly lighted, strange place.

She was standing and for a second, found it hard to breathe, as though her soul had temporarily left her body. She heard the once close to inaudible voice call out to her. "You… I've seen you before…What was your name again?"

"Huh? I don't understand… Where am I? Who are you? I can't see you," Kairi said, confused.

"My name isn't important. Besides, if you try to remember me, I'm sure you'll figure it out soon," the voice said. "You will soon find out where you are."

What do you…?" Kairi began, but the voice cut her off.

"Call out to the light," it said simply.

"The light? What light?" Kairi asked.

The things around her once again got hazy and she once again lost all feeling in her body. "The light in your heart…" was the last thing she heard the voice say as she slipped into unconsciousness yet again.

She once again heard a voice, but in the inner recesses of her mind she knew the voice didn't belong to the mysterious figure in that strange place:

"Kairi… Kairi… Kairi!" With every shout of her name, the voice sounded more and more familiar. She finally opened her eyes and noticed she was lying on the ground. Selphie's green eyes were peering down at her.

She sat up, but as if she were still in a daze, she spoke in a quiet, despondent tone.

"Selphie…? What happened…?"

"You tell me! Did you fall asleep while walking to school or something?" she laughed. "You're home now. When I told the teacher about you, she said to bring you home. You don't have to go to school the last day, isn't that cool?" She laughed again.

"_Home…_" Kairi thought. She looked down and saw she wasn't lying on the ground, but on a sofa out on the patio. She must have been out for what at least felt like a long time, but in reality was a short amount of time, she thought, judging from the way Selphie had mentioned the teacher and the school.

Then, the mayor, her father, appeared at the door. He had a relieved expression on his face when he saw Kairi.

"Oh, thank goodness! Kairi… You're awake… I've been so worried. You are going to be the death of me someday, what with the strange way you showed up here, you were so frightened. Now, you are going to spend the rest of the day in bed to ensure this doesn't happen anymore today. Thank you for your help, Selphie."

Selphie turned and smiled at the mayor. "No problem. Always happy to help!" Then she turned to Kairi and said, "And… uh… Kairi, be more careful, okay? Anyway, you know where to find us when you wanna hang out! See ya!" She left smiling.

The mayor looked at his adopted daughter anxiously and there was a sympathetic tone in his voice.

"You sure you're okay?" he asked, evidently being over-concerned, as Kairi hadn't mentioned leaving for anywhere, and what's more, she hadn't even said a word.

"Yeah, dad, I'm fine…. Just a bit groggy is all," she finally spoke up.

"Well… Okay, if you say so…" He gave her a weak smile and then walked out of the house, as Kairi made her way to her room.

Very soon after as sleep was about to legitimately take her in its claws and she was closing her eyes, she thought she the voice of the mysterious figure say:

"The light in your heart…. Call out to it…"

During this time, Sora and Riku were hard at work… listening to Yen Sid talk about the Heartless and the new threats they were about to face as well as how to be prepared for all that might befell them. Not that they were asleep or anything. They were really quite awake, as this was all very important.

"…. and what's more you must be alert when you are up against those that wish to harm you. You will profit from the techniques I am about to teach you, then," he finished.

Riku and Sora looked at each other and flashed hopeful smiles at each other. The true road to their becoming real Keyblade masters was finally about to begin…


	3. True Awakenings Part 1

After a few weeks of intense training, Sora and Riku were finally ready for the last two steps to becoming true Keyblade masters. The past weeks had been filled with disappointments, bruises and reassessments. Every night both friends went to sleep tired and beat up, but were always ready for what tomorrow might bring. It was when Master Yen Sid called them in one morning that their lives were about to change for a third time.

"Sora, Riku….. You are about to begin your true awakening."

Sora looked puzzled. "True awakening?"

"It is the second to last step to becoming a Keyblade master. You've felt it before Sora. This time you will awaken your full potential as Keyblade masters."

Riku looked surprised. "But…. Master, I haven't had my first awakening have I? Don't I need to have one?"

Yen Sid looked at Riku with a mixture of seriousness and kindness in his eyes. "No. You can already wield a Keyblade, can't you? The first one was just to awaken your ability to use the Keyblade. You were a special case Riku, though even I do not know how it happened…"

Sora thought to himself, "_Wait…. I've felt it before?"_ He thought back to the time when al of this began. So, that was what it was called… an awakening. Only later in that time period did he realize its importance, it was his initiation as a Keyblade wielder. But he realized he hadn't known its true name. It still felt like a dream after about two years and to go back when it would probably be more dangerous and difficult was both exciting and haunting.

But finally, his adventurous spirit won out against his slightly worried and frightened mind and he said excitedly:

"All right! I'm ready! When can we start?"

As if in answer, Yen Sid quickly got up and roughly pushed him out of the room. He heard Yen Sid utter an "I'm sorry, "and then he lessened his grip so that Sora could walk on his own. They walked down to the entrance of the tower and turned towards a door that Sora didn't remember seeing the last time he had been there.

Yen Sid opened the door, and without saying a word, he left Sora alone. There was a short staircase, leading to another door. Sora quickly ran down the length of the staircase and was about to open the door when he heard a voice behind him:

"Hiya, Sora!" Sora turned and, to his amazement, saw King Mickey standing by the door manning something that looked like a monitor.

"Your Majesty! What are you doing here?" Sora smiled and ran up to the king to give him a hug. As soon as the rather heartwarming reunion had finished, Mickey proceeded to tell Sora the answer to his question:

"Well, actually, Yen Sid called me here. He said that I needed to help you go through the trials in your true awakening. So, why don't we get started?"

Sora nodded and opened the door. Inside there was a ledge-like piece of turf and it led down into a deep abyss. Sora looked at with excitement shining in his eyes. "All you need to do," Mickey spoke up, "is jump. Good luck Sora!"

Sora smiled at the king and was about to jump when he heard a voice say:

"It's almost time…. Time to set my heart free…"

"What?" Sora was standing near the edge by now, and lost his balance, so that he fell off and went down into the unknown. Up above, Mickey wasn't surprised by this, and so began the preparations to instruct his young friend through the trials that awaited him.

Sora was falling, falling, falling. It felt like the sensation of semi weightlessness might last for an eternity. Suddenly, he noticed a light and the closer he got to it (or wait…. Was _it _getting closer to _him_?) the warmer and sleepier he got (whichever one it was, it still had the same effect, regardless.)

"This light…" he said out loud, "it feels so friendly…. Like I've felt it before…. Is this the light in my heart?" He finally drifted off to sleep as these last words came out of his mouth.

Much later (he wasn't sure what time it was,) he found himself standing on something. He looked down. It was glass (or was it?) and there were seven circles positioned in the middle. In each of them were pictures: the first of Kairi with her hand over her heart, the second of a slice of papou fruit, the third of Riku smiling, the fourth a picture of Master Xehanort smiling menacingly (is that what he really looked like? Moreover, how'd he know that was him?) the fifth a picture of a Keyblade shining with power, the sixth a picture of a masked figure…. Who was he?

The seventh was of a sleeping face. It was strange….. It looked familiar, Sora thought, even if the color was a bit off. The boy's eyes closed and he had spiky hair… Who were both of them, he mused. Suddenly a voice was heard saying:

"You see that one? The one in the middle? That's me…. Find my body…. I'm strong enough now to go back to it….. Oh, and don't worry. I'll guide you through this. Just follow my advice and you should find your true strength in no time."

As if Sora had known the voice would be there he answered, not frightened in the least:

"But what about Mickey?"

"Don't worry, he's fine." the voice said gently.

Sora nodded. Then, as if it had forgotten everything except that it was Sora's teacher, the voice said:

"The Keyblade's power is great, but you must learn to control it. Whatever you wish, the Keyblade will do. It is at your heart's beck and call…"

The teaching paid off and Sora was able to learn a couple new spells and attacks and finally after several battles with Heartless he was ready to face off against the darkness in his heart.

"Remember, don't hold back. Give it all you've got and don't run. That just means that you are afraid of losing and that means you doubt what your heart is capable of. Don't doubt your light."

A strange thing happened then. A black something covered the ground (darkness perhaps?) and Sora didn't even move. The darkness covered him (funny, he thought, this had happened before…) and he lost consciousness.

He woke up on the ground just lying there, but he wasn't back he in the world of consciousness. He was on another glass platform but this one he saw, had three circles and a heart shining with a profound and bright light. The three circles had a man in black (the Organization, Sora knew,) the same boy with the spiky hair still asleep, and Sora with his eyes open.

Then, a black hole appeared and out of it stepped a man in a black coat. Perhaps it was the same in the picture….. He stepped up to Sora and said:

"I know _why_ he chose you…. Now prove to me that you're fit to wield it!"

The man jumped back and made a lunge for Sora with his _two_ Keyblades. This caught Sora by surprise and then he realized something: "_Roxas…. But what's he doing outside of my heart?" _ and then he felt soothing smack his face hard and he sailed backwards. Roxas sneered:

"You call that your true potential? That will never get Xion back!"

Sora said, rather fiercely:

"You haven't seen anything yet!" and flashed him an angry smile.

The fight then commenced and for a while it was _very _evenly matched but sooner or later Roxas started gaining the upper hand. Towards the end, he kept on pushing Sora towards the edge of their 'arena.' Roxas had also bruised and battered Sora so much that he had started bleeding out but only slightly. At one point, Roxas had pushed him completely to the edge and jeered:

"Well that proves it. The Keyblade master is not fit to do his job!" He was about to finish the fight when something came over Sora. He said aloud:

"Now I understand it completely. The Keyblade _does _rely on the strength of the heart, sure. But not just partially. It relies on it completely and _totally!_" And made a lunge at Roxas, which caught him by surprise and he disappeared in a cloud of light (coming from the Keyblade, Sora later realized.)

And then he fell asleep. And he heard that same voice from before say:

"So, you finally learned how to control it. You're ready to set the three of us at ease." And then the boy's face fully alive and awake appeared before Sora. Somehow, he heard his own voice say:

"Who are you?"

"I'm Ventus…" Sora heard the other voice say. And then everything disappeared….

A/N: Sorry if that seemed rather rushed or uneventful or whatever. Any questions you might have will be answered later in the story so hang tight!


End file.
